Local Editor
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimates that the health and protection of more than 2.2 million women and girls, of childbearing age are at risk as the conflict in Yemen drags on.
According to the UNFPA’s representative Ezizgeldi Hellenov over three million people are displaced.
“More than of half of them are women and girls; they are typically those that pay the highest price in any war,” Hellenov added.
As of March 2017, 18.8 million people are in need of humanitarian support. Rising food shortages have left an estimated 1.1 million pregnant women malnourished. The breakdown in health services, with nearly one third of the total number of health facilities currently providing maternal and newborn care services can result in the death of one thousand of the 52,800 pregnant women in Yemen at increased risk of developing complications during childbirth.
In a country with one of the highest maternal death rates in the Arab region, lack of food, poor nutrition and eroding healthcare could mean an increase in premature or low-birth weight babies and severe postpartum bleeding, making the process of giving birth more life threatening.
Displacement and the breakdown of protection mechanisms have drastically increased the vulnerability of women and girls to violence. Incidents of gender-based violence have reportedly increased by over 63 percent in the last two years, with over 10,000 such cases of violence reported in 2016 alone. This means more frequent rapes, domestic violence, forced and child marriage, physical and psychological abuse and trauma, and many more acts of violence against women and girls compared to two years ago.
An estimated 14.8 million people are lacking access to basic health care, including reproductive health. Medical supplies are in chronically short supply, with less than half of all health facilities functioning across the country.
UNFPA has called for urgent attention to the needs of women and girls in Yemen, who remain the most vulnerable, in this unfolding humanitarian catastrophe, and is appealing for $22.1 million under the 2017 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan aimed to reach the 2.2 million women and girls in urgent need.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
